Nic Robuck Interview: OLTL Star Goes To The Dark Side in New TV Movie, Dark Desires!

Tonight is a big night for Nic Robuck! The talented young actor that soap fans first noticed and came to love as James Ford on One Life to Live stars in his first film, which will have it’s premiere tonight on the Lifetime Movie Network (LMN) at 8P.M. ET/PT.

In Dark Desires,Robuck plays a young man desperate to be connected to the people close to him. And … that may lead him to some devious measures to achieve that desire. When the young man comforts the unhappily married mother of his recently deceased roommate, while she mourns the loss of her son, she realizes that Shane (Nic Robuck) may have been the one responsible for the death of her son. And that is only scratching the surface of this steamy tale!

On-Air On-Soaps chatted with Nic about his exciting project, Dark Desires, and his lead role as Shane opposite the beautiful Kelly Lynch! In addition, Nic reveals his hopes for the future, and what his time at OLTL meant to him looking back a year later after he filmed his final scenes in Llanview. With the brightest future ahead of him, and his startling performance in Dark Desires, Nic will be hard to resist, in more ways than one. Here’s what Nic had to say about it all!

Looks like the Dark Desires planned released date was moved up! Even you were originally surprised that it is airing tonight!

Courtesy/LMN

NIC: Yes, correct! It was supposed to come out in January, and then the distribution company for the film saw a clip of it, loved what they saw, and said, “We need this film immediately for the holidays!” So then they were on a huge time crunch to get this movie completed, edited and screened before it started to run on Lifetime. It’s been a whirlwind.

How did you land the part in Dark Desires? I know you have been very excited about the role and your performance in it.

NIC: I auditioned twice, and the second time was for the director. He shook my hand after I auditioned and he said, “Great job,” and they never to do that. So, I kind of had a really good feeling about it. Then I was waiting to hear that I booked it, and they called and said, “We would love you to come back in for a chemistry read with the other actors!” And I thought, “Oh no. I thought I booked this already.” So I go in and I read with a couple other actors, but I was reading a whole lot, so even then I had a good feeling about it, because I was now reading with so many other actors. I found out early the next day that I booked it, and this is my first film, so I couldn’t have been more pleased. A couple of weeks later there was the table read, and then we began shooting. This was all a quick process.

The character you play, Shane, was abused. He is quite the tormented guy!

Courtesy/LMN

NIC: He has a very rough bringing up. His mom died very early, and his dad was very abusive. For Shane to survive it and make it to college and everything, he had to say that he was an orphan. His dad agreed to it, so he could get a scholarship and an education. So there wasn’t much love going on between the father and son relationship, even though Shane would have liked that. The father was very physically and emotionally abusive to him.

So now from there, somehow Shane (ala you) ends up having sex with Kelly Lynch (Laughs)?

NIC: (Laughs) So he goes to college, and goes to a great school, and is on a wrestling scholarship. Since he wasn’t loved very much growing up, when people show him love and affection he latches on in a creepy way. He and his roommate become fast friends, and the roommate takes him home to meet his mom, played by Kelly Lynch. He sees this family life that he never had, and he really likes that and wants to hold on to that feeling. He then latches on even more to his roommate, Brandon (Brian Borello), in creepy way. When Brandon gets a girlfriend he starts hanging out with Shane, less and less. He does what he can to change that situation, and things transpire (laughs) and the roommate dies. And, in mourning, Shane comforts Caren (Kelly Lynch) and they kind of start this romance. Her husband is not around to comfort her, and Shane is. They have an affair, and again, he latches on to her …

… Let me guess! In a very creepy way?

Courtesy/LMN

NIC: Exactly … in a very creepy way, and she gets hints and clues to how damaged this guy really is, and the measures that he will take to get what he wants. Then some other people die and she sees his true colors, and the ending … is a surprise! (Laughs)

Is this a cougar thing with Kelly Lynch’s character?

NIC: Well, not really. It’s kind of like this mother thing. So it starts out that way, but when Shane discovers Caren is looking for sex and a deeper kind of love, and to connect with someone because her husband isn’t doing it, Shane kind of steps in to fill that space and void in her life. She welcomes it, and they start this very hot, steamy, and sexy affair.

So, Shane desires her!

NIC: The thing with Shane is that he will take love from any shape or form from his best friend and roommate, from a woman pretending to be his mom, to a woman being his lover. He will take it, because it’s love and he never received any of that.

So when all was said and done, was playing Shane easy for you to kind of slip into his skin, and envelop playing this type of complex character?

NIC: Here is the thing: I don’t have a problem being empathetic with any character. I am a sensitive, emotional kind of person anyway. I can bring a lot to the table already through that, but I often tend to want to give it all away. What I found difficult in this role was holding back a bit. That is when the director stepped in to keep my character strong, but also so the audience would be sympathetic towards Shane. He reeled me emotionally, but so that it was still there on the surface. So you see something is going on with, but maybe not the way that I would show it.

Courtesy/LMN

The big question … were the sex scenes easy, or hard to do? (Laughs)

NIC: First of all, it’s Kelly Lynch! But on a soap, you are just kind of under the covers, and it is an illusion that you are having sex. But in this movie, we are next to having full sex and we are next to naked, and it’s Kelly Lynch! So of course, I was having some performance anxiety (Laughs). But she was so professional, nice, and supportive, and she made it easy and effortless… and we were in it together.

I spoke with David Gregory (Ex-Ford) earlier this month and we were reminiscing about his time on One Life. It’s been a year now since you filmed your final scenes as James. Looking back, what did you takeaway from your One Life to Live experience?

NIC: I owe everything to that show. They took a chance on me; ABC, Frank Valentini and, Brian Frons. They gave me an opportunity, and I learned how to memorize dialog like there is no tomorrow. However, I really learned how to act, and to be with different directors, and how to be on set, and handle things in a crunch when things got difficult. Had I not done One Life to Live, I would have not been able to do this shoot. This movie was shot in 16 days and I am in every scene of it, and there was so much to do emotionally. Had I not had my experience on a soap, I would not have been able to give the performance that I gave in Dark Desires, which I am very proud of.

Is your goal now that you want to land a primetime TV series?

NIC: I really would. I like the thought that on a TV series people can see you every week, and the work is consistent, and it pays well. But given that, I also had a wonderful time working on this film. I am not opposed to films. If they keep coming my way, I would definitely do them. But my biggest goal right now is to get a part in a dramatic primetime series.

If you were to look at the dramatic primetime series that are currently on the air and you could hand pick a series to have a role on, which would that be?

Courtesy/ABC

NIC: I would love to do an ABC Family show like Pretty Little Liars. That is a great show and people love it. I have a friend on True Blood, and if they called me up and asked me to be on that show, I would love to be on True Blood playing a vampire. Honestly though, any role that is dramatic, and that I can summon up some emotion and be serious, that is kind of what I lean more towards, and I would love to tackle. Look, I would take any of them! I am not that picky! (Laughs)

Have you stayed in touch with your former soap leading gal, Kristen Alderson (Starr, OLTL & GH)?

NIC: Oh yes! Kristen only lives a mile from me here in L.A. We plan day-dates with each other, and we hang out a lot, and talk on the phone.

What was your favorite James moment? The very beginning with Starr, and the red car?

NIC: That was fun, but that was also very nerve-wracking. You know what? I would have to say getting buried alive was kind of cool, even though it was sort of a non-event; it was a lot of fun.

Photo Credit: Lorenzo Hodges

We are all excited to see you on Dark Desires tonight! What would you tease to people why they should check it out?

NIC: You will see me, Nic Robuck, in ways you’ve never seen me before … both dark and naked!

And the fans go, “Yay”!

NIC: Well, hopefully they will go, “Yay! I am tuning in!” (Laughs)

So soapers, will you be checking Nic out tonight on LMN in Dark Desires? To whet your appetite, check out this sizzling preview clip below!

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Leave a Reply

Anyone know when & if this will be played in Canada? I have looked but could find nothing. Thanks

Reply

November 23, 2012 12:53 pm

Rodd

If we had had more than a few hours notice, I would have loved to have watched it. Hope is airs in reruns soon.

Reply

November 23, 2012 7:34 pm

su0000

It airs again; Sun 11/25 … 3:00pm-5:00pm (central time..

Reply

November 23, 2012 11:53 pm

Robbyrob

Thanks for the great interview with Nic. It’s wonderful that he hasn’t forgotten his soap roots and the people, like Michael, who he had met along the way. He always was very talented, likable, and er…um…kinda easy on the eyes too!

Reply

November 24, 2012 4:51 pm

andrea

Great interview. Loved Nic in the movie, he did a great job. Hope we see more of him soon.

Reply

November 26, 2012 10:07 am

pamela

Wow! Loved the movie Dark Desire and Nic did a great job! He was very convincing playing his character Shane! I can kinda relate to his character and really felt for Shane. I would love to see more of him! I agree, he is very talented, likeable and easy on the eyes! =) And yes, great interview! I even recorded the movie from LMN, I can watch this movie over and over and over again lol. And when I know it to come on again I will watch it then too…

In major developments in the last several hours, Jussie Smollett (Jamal Lyon, Empire) turned himself in to Chicago police early Thursday morning, just hours after he was charged with disorderly conduct for allegedly staging a racist and homophobic attack against himself late in January on the streets in Chicago.

In a press conference currently being conducted by the CPD supervisor, Eddie Johnson and Commander Edward Wodnick, they revealed that Smollett turned himself in quietly and without issue. In addition, the Chicago PD are outlining the events and timeline that led to Smollett’s arrest.

Smollett turned himself in at the Central District police station in Chicago at 5 a.m., police reported. Thursday morning, Smollett was scheduled to appear for a bail hearing Thursday at 1:30pm central time on a felony charge of a class 4 disorderly conduct, and with that charge Smollett could face up to 1.5 years in prison.

Jussie’s attorney’s released the following statement on Wednesday night after Smollett was charged by the Chicago PD: “Like any other citizen, Mr. Smollett enjoys the presumption of innocence, particularly when there has been an investigation like this one where information, both true and false, has been repeatedly leaked. Given these circumstances, we intend to conduct a thorough investigation and to mount an aggressive defense.”

Smollett reported that he has been attacked as he was walking home around. He claimed two masked men shouted racist and homophobic slurs as they beat him, put a noose around his neck, and poured a chemical on to him.

Enter two brothers, Ola and Abel Osundairo, who Smollett knew, who were arrested last week, but later released as suspects. The two brothers told police they helped stage the attack with Smollett. They were paid $3,500 to orchestrate the attack by Smollett. In their press conference, the Chicago PD revealed that they have the check as evidence were Smollett paid the brothers that sum.

The brothers left for Nigeria hours after the attack, and were arrested days later when they returned to Chicago. On Wednesday, they testified to a grand jury. Smollett was later charged with disorderly conduct.

What do you think now about the events and the arrest of Jussie Smollett? Comment below! But first watch the Chicago PD police department.live feed of the press conference on Smollett’s arrest.

Thad Luckinbill Back Taping At The Young and the Restless

February 21, 2019

Well, well, well! Look who is back on set at The Young and the Restless! Thad Luckinbill, who is presumed dead as J.T. Hellstrom, was seen walking around the sound stages at CBS Television City on Wednesday.

Denise Richards Joins The Cast Of The Bold and the Beautiful

February 20, 2019

Looks Like Denise Richards will be pulling double duty! After recently joining the new season of Bravo’s hit reality show franchise, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, the actress has also joined CBS Daytime’s The Bold and the Beautiful.

In casting news out of PEOPLE.com, Richards is set to play Flo’s mom (Katrina Bowden), Shauna Fulton.

Richards is joining B&B in a contract role. What we do know from the series EP and head writer, Brad Bell as told to PEOPLE: “Shauna is a fun-loving, hard-working single mother from Las Vegas who aspires to live life to its absolute fullest. She heads for Los Angeles when she learns that her daughter, Florence ‘Flo’, the pride and joy of her life, is entangled in a complicated situation. However, Shauna’s involvement won’t stop there. She’s got a past and big secrets to spill.”

Look for Denise to start her B&B adventure taping all-new episodes this Friday with her debut on April 3.

In the meantime you can catch Richards on RHOBH as their season kicked-off last week on February 12th.

So, what do you think of the addition of Denise Richards to The Bold and the Beautiful? Share your thoughts via the comment section below.